20 September 2007

The weather was sunny and hot that afternoon (2007 Aug. 8), but the crowds were still strong and sweaty.

Before Weird Al's concert, I walked around the fair and stopped at the dairy exhibit for a chocolate shake. I learned there that Ohio is the nation's leading produce of Swiss Cheese.This achievement was commemorated with a cow, calf, block of cheese,and a small sprite carved out of butter.

We were told not to take photographs during Weired Al's performance, but I took this one before he took the stage. You can see about one quarter of the crowd. The rainbow wig belongs to a clown on stilts who served as pre-show entertainment.

The concert was excellent and hilarious. I had "my, my, this here Anakin guy..." stuck in my head for some time. He performed several full songs and snippets from others from throughout his career, including "Eat It," "A Complicated Song," and "Bob," which he he described as "a song composed entirely of random palindromes." My favorite was, "Ah, Satan sees Natasha." He went though almost as many costume changes as songs; he wore the fat suit from the music video when he sang "Fat!"

He began "White & Nerdy," which hit a little too close to home for me, by riding a Segway onto the stage. Anothe featuer was "The Saga Begins" in which Al dressed up as Obi-Wan Kenobi and his keyobard player was dressed as Emperor Palpatine. He concluded with "Albuquerque," althought it seemed like an abbreviated version. Overall, the show was hilarious, his performaces was strong and energetic, and it was well worth the price of admission.

On the way back, I found my last name in the sidewalk. It is not a very common name; I did not put it there, and I do not know who did.

Each night of the fair concluded with fireworks. Since I did not bring my tripod, I did not get a clear photograph.

Relevant Quotes

"This is what the LORD says: 'If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time…If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed laws of heaven and earth, then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant'" - Jeremiah 33:20, 25-26 (NIV)

"It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out."- Proverbs 25:2 (ESV)

"The scientific ethos, moreover, is...the will to be obedient to the truth, and, as such, it embodies an attitude which belongs to the essential decisions of the Christian spirit." - Pope Benedict XVI